Fall Check-In: Florida Atlantic Owls

For the next installment of our Fall Check-In series we head to Boca Raton to chat with Florida Atlantic Head Coach Stavros Neocleous.  The Owls are the defending SELC DII Champions and earned the top seed at last year’s MCLA National Championships Powered by New Balance earning Coach Neocleous the Flip Naumburg MCLA Coach of the Year award.  The Owls also must replace MCLA Player of the Year Ryan Kerr.

To read the prior installments of our Fall Check-in Series click here: Virginia Tech (DI)

FAU made their first trip to the semifinals last year behind a prolific offense lead by Ryan Kerr and Drake Summers, do you expect this year’s team to have a similar identity?

Stavros Neocleous: I think any time you have major offensive turnover you will have some changes. We graduated our whole attack line, Ethan Powers who was the 3rd man and chipped in 30 or so goals last year as well as some other big pieces in the midfield. We try to make changes to our style every year, I think people who follow us will still recognize the fast pace but there will certainly be some stylistic changes and new faces. We are excited to see how our new young crop of athletes will develop.

What are the schedule highlights?  Any big trips or marquee opponents coming to Boca Raton?

SN: We have a very exciting schedule that will be released very soon. We have a great trip to Denver planned in early February that will be hosted in the Denver Broncos indoor facility where we will see Montana State and Saint Thomas. We’ve also set a big trip to Michigan in the later part of the season to visit GVSU, NDSU, and another opponent. Around mid season UNC Charlotte will be coming down to Boca for another big ranked game.

It’s early in the Fall, but have any newcomers stood out so far?

SN: We try not to overplay our hand too much, but we are lucky to have another great class of newcomers this year. Our staff is already putting in the work to get guys prepped for another big run.

You guys graduated a big class last year, how is the team adjusting to that?  Who is stepping into the leadership void?

SN: We graduated 13 seniors last year. Some who have been with the team since I took over back in 2018/19 (Covid Years).. we are blessed to have a group of guys that are truly invested in keeping the program at a top level. Guys like Dylan Meade, Jacob Johnson, Jojo Andrews, and Alex Acker have all been great leaders on and off the field.

The Owls have made nationals four straight seasons including being the number one seed last season and have made it one round further each of the last three years (first round in ’23, quarters in ’24, and semis in ’25).  How have the program's expectations changes and what in your mind does the program need to do to continue that trend and advance to the championship game?

SN: It’s an interesting question because when you find yourself in the semifinals and you lose that game by 1 goal, you feel so close.. you don’t have to change much. We preach that success comes from the little things. At the end of the day, the guys on the field and the coaches on the sideline all need to execute at the highest level possible. That starts with how you work and practice in August, we have become better and better at checking off the little things. We truly believe that if every player strives to just do a little more and every coach can give a little more, there is nothing standing in the way of what we want to accomplish.

Thank you to Coach Neocleous for sharing about the FAU program.  Coaches, if you'd like your program to be featured in our Fall Check-In series, please email info@mcla.us to receive your questions.